Such A Beautiful Boy
by lrs-darkmuse
Summary: How much is really expected of the kunoichi? And if they ARE expected to give their bodies away if necessary for the mission, is the same expected of the men? Would a shinobi ever be sent on a mission to seduce a powerful man? Young,original Ino-Shika-Cho


Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or these characters.

___Ume yanagi sazo wakashu kana onna kana_  
(Plum and willow, boy or woman?)  
— Matsuo Bashō

* * *

"Such a _beautiful _boy."

He first heard those words when he was very small. He remembers well the satin hand that held his chin in a grip like iron, gently turning his face this way and that to study the angles and planes of his face, the high cheekbones and long-dark lashes that made his crystal blue eyes stand out so vividly.

"Such a _beautiful_ boy," the voice was sweet, but laced with some deeper meaning that he couldn't understand.

The heavily bejeweled hand released his face and he could only raise his eyes and stare. She was the most beautiful, extraordinary creature he had ever seen. Her skin was porcelain perfection and every hair, lash and brow was precisely in place. The amount of jewelry she was wearing on any other woman would have seemed gawdy but on her it only served to accent her own exquisite beauty. Her lacquered nails and bene tinged lips were a lethal shade of red. Even though he was so young he still sensed that she could kill by either or both.

"Keep me apprised of his progress. Especially as his jutsu develops." Her brilliant smile dazzled him and only years later did it occur to him that it had never quite reached her eyes.

He had felt his father's hand tighten on his shoulder, urging him to join in the deep, formal bow befitting one of her rank. "H-hai, Akako-dono."

"Otou-san - was that...?" he whispered as the elegant lady walked away.

His father answered before he could complete the question. "Hai. That is Akako-dono, the leader of our clan."

"And she's interested in _me_? In _my_ training?"

"Hai," his father's voice was a mixture of pride and resignation.

* * *

He was called to visit Akako-dono many times as he was growing up. She regaled him with stories of the Yamanaka's clan's contributions to Konoha's successes over the years, their unparalleled skills in espionage and their unwavering loyalty to the village that was their home. Oftentimes as she was telling her tales she would brush his hair until it shone like spun gold.

She took over supervision of his entire training and he thrived under her tutelage. She praised him when he mastered shinranshin no jutsu and positively beamed as he became the youngest member of Yamanake since Akako herself to ever master shintenshin no jutsu. Telepathy and mind reading came easy to him as well.

But the skill that Akako saw as her most prized possession in her most favorite student was one which did not even have a jutsu named for it. Empathy, intuition, skills that were part and parcel of a kunoichi's stock in trade, Inoichi possessed these as well. The flaws in using the Yamanaka clan techniques directly in espionage were that the targets could tell when they were under the influece of either shinranshin or shintenshin. And although not as obvious, it was still highly likely that targets could also get a "sense" that they were being influenced by either telepathy or mind reading. But empathy and intuition allowed a kunoichi to mold her behavior to what the target wanted her to be, she could become whatever he desired. By winning her way into his bed, she could win her way into his confidences. And the mind of a sated lover is much more willing to yield up its secrets.

Unfortunately, not all targets desired kunoichi.

Akako guided his training, following up each day with him after lessons at the Academy. When it came time for him to graduate she made her wishes quite clear to the instructors that under no circumstances was he to be involved in any silly little love triangles among teammates. She demanded and received his placement on an all male team, one of the few in Konoha's history.

At some point during his years as a chuunin she took him to her bed and taught him that there were other ways besides shintenshin no jutsu to make another's body perform according to your will. But she always controlled the pace of these encounters and never let him think for a moment that there was anything romantic about this at all. Pleasure. Pleasure as a skill in the furtherance of Konoha's aims was what she taught him.

Later, other men assisted her in his training, both men who were and were not interested in his body. They taught him how to pick up on subtle queues when an "accidental" touch in the onsen might be more than accidental or when a casual glance might linger a little too long. He learned how to distinguish these, how to easily brush the accidental touches off by a gruff "sorry" or how to encourage the same when he sensed the participant was interested - by _not _saying anything, by _not_ turning away from the gaze.

Shikaku and Chouza were curious but tolerant of his training regimen. Even though he spent hours away from them, they never felt any less of a team than any of the other three person groups.

Eventually one of Akako's men taught Inoichi that there were yet more ways to control another's body. When Inoichi returned to his teammates after that lesson, he surprised them both by wanting to go straight to the bar. Shikaku was bemused since he was usually the first one to suggest knocking off early and having a drink, nonetheless the three trooped down to the bar and stayed there very much later than usual. Inoichi never could hold his liquor very well, and when he stumbled going out the door, they each offered a shoulder on either side. He brushed them both off and stumbled on home, telling them to leave him the fuck alone.

"What am I?" he stood in her door way and slurred out his question. "What have you made me?"

Tightening her robe about her, she shepherded him in and fixed him tea and told him he was a perfect weapon called a shinobi.

* * *

Asako targeted her weapon toward a young noble in the Land of Grass who was known to be very jingoistic and beating the drums of war in Konoha's direction. Inoichi was away for six months to befriend, bewitch and ensnare the young man. His two worried teammates often sought a confirmation of his status, but he wasn't even listed as on a mission at the assignments desk, so no one, it seemed, had any information about the blond-haired teen. Or, at least none that they could share. His mission, it seemed, did not even officially exist.

One night, after he had passed all information he could gather over the last few months back to his handlers, Inoichi realized it was time to retrieve the final few documents and go ...home. Unfortunately, his lover/target walked in on him right as he was hastily stuffing the last of the scrolls in his travel sack. The look of horrified _betrayal _was one the young blond would never forget. He slipped a kunai in the man's chest and watched his lover of the last few months die in his arms. Hastily destroying the room to make it look as if they had both been attacked and abducted, he carried the still warm body with him into the forest and dumped it on his way back to Konoha.

His two friends were beyond glad to see him but had sense enough and could tell by the look in his eyes not to ask him any questions. So instead they drank together. Early and often.

He received a hefty bonus for his mission which never even received a ranking, but monetarily wise would have certainly qualified for S-class. He used the money to make a downpayment on a shop in the village. He had no idea what he'd sell, just wanted to...be a shopkeeper.

He met and married a village girl and somehow found himself the proprietor of a flower shop in downtown Konoha, a married man with a baby on the way. He never felt...married...though and often thought he must be the most horrible husband in the world, almost as if he were living a lie but he could never decided just what it was he was lying about. He didn't have to worry about it long since his wife died in the Kyuubi attack and he was left to raise his infant daughter by himself.

* * *

"Inoichi-_chan_, you never come to see me anymore," the voice belonged to one whose beauty was ageless, timeless. If any wrinkles had dared sully her skin over the years she hid them skillfully with both make-up and genjutsu. And that voice was not the gentle chiding of some elderly aunt chastising a favorite nephew - it was clearly an official reprimand.

"M-my apologies, Akako-dono," he stammered, looking anxiously at the clock over the shop counter. "The shop seems to keep me quite busy these days."

"Hnnn, yes," she murmured, idly examining the blooms in the display cases, "I imagine it does."

The pregnant pause between the two was punctuated by the jangle of the bell as the florist shop door flew open, a blond whirlwind tearing across the room, bento box and school papers scattering as she threw herself into Inochi's arms. "I'm hooooommmme, Otou-san," the little girl sang out with a giggle, swishing her ponytail to and fro.

"Ino, honey, we have a customer," Inochi said, trying to disentangle himself from his daughter's hug.

"Oh, I am so sorry," she giggled again then executed a perfect little formal bow toward the elegant lady. "Please forgive me."

"Why, Inoichi-_chan_, is _this_ your little daughter? _Ino_, isn't it? Such nice manners...," one slender fingered hand held Ino's chin, tipping her little face up to look her in the eyes.

"....And _such_ a beautiful girl."

* * *

**_A/N: _**

I wrote this in response to a challenge issued by a friend: "How much is really expected of the kunoichi? And if they ARE expected to give their bodies away if necessary for the mission, is the same expected of the men?"


End file.
